The protein shift is having a moment.
- Pois Chiche
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
But for us, it's nothing new
The protein conversation is everywhere again.
On menus, in articles, in gyms, in supermarkets - suddenly everything is about protein. Added protein, high-protein, protein-first.
It’s not new, but it feels louder than before.
So we wanted to take a moment to write about it.
Not to explain it, or define it - but simply to share how we see it from where we stand: in a kitchen, cooking every day.
Because when you step back from all the noise, the question becomes quite simple:
what does protein actually look like on a plate?
We’re not writing this to explain the protein transition.
We’re writing this because the conversation is growing - and sometimes moving further away from the food itself.
At Pois Chiche, protein has never been something we had to add, highlight, or rethink.
It has always been part of what we cook.
Not in an isolated way, not as a focus - but as something naturally present in the ingredients we use every day.
Chickpeas, for example. (Even in our name.)
Not the only thing in our kitchen - but something we keep returning to.
Because in the end, it’s still the simplest dishes - hummus, falafel - that people come back for.
The phrase “protein transition” can sound bigger than it is.
And in many ways, it’s a good thing.
It reflects a growing awareness: how we eat, where our food comes from, how we can move towards more plant-based choices.
But at the same time, the way we talk about it has changed.
Protein is often treated as something to optimise, to add, to measure.
While in reality, it has always been there - quietly present in foods that have been feeding people for generations.
Not as a feature. But as part of a whole.
And maybe that’s where the shift really happens.
Not through new products or big changes, but through a gradual return to ingredients that already do the job - naturally.
Why we keep coming back to chickpeas
Chickpeas are a simple example of that.
Not because we chose them for what they represent today - but because they’ve always been part of the food we love to cook and share.
What makes it more meaningful now is understanding where they come from.
Through our relationship with Thomas from Peas & Beans, we’re connected to chickpeas grown in Belgian soil.
That changes things. It brings the ingredient closer.Makes it more tangible.
And reminds us that food doesn’t start on a plate - but in the ground, over time, through people who grow it.
But if there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s this:
It doesn’t have to be complicated.
Not everything needs to be reformulated.Not everything needs to be labelled.
Some things have been working for a long time.
We don’t feel the need to imitate something else, or to redesign what already makes sense.
We prefer to stay close to what has always been there:
legumes, vegetables, grains, herbs - cooked properly, seasoned well, and shared.
So, the protein transition?
The protein shift isn’t something new.
It’s simply a return to ingredients that have always made sense -
sometimes as simple as a plate of hummus
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